BarracksSi

Exactly. Here's what I tell everyone now (if they ask, anyway):

Want to get stronger? Lift.
Want to go faster? Cardio.
Want to lose weight? Eat smarter.

You can do any single part or all three, but you will not lose the amount of excess weight that you really want unless you figure out how to eat right.

Jyyanks

+1. Trying to lose weight now by eating better and cutting out junk.

prathmann

I can't stand the taste of it. But in addition to concerns about the healthiness of sugar substitutes, there are also serious questions about whether they are actually effective in helping people reduce their calorie intake. Sure, the diet drinks themselves have very few calories, but there have been quite a few studies that indicate that people who drink them tend to eat more of other foods and end up increasing rather than decreasing their weight. Here's one article:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._n_886409.html

And I also read another study (but can't find a link) which randomly assigned college students eating in campus dorms to two groups - one of which drank only diet sodas at meals and the other which drank regular, sugared sodas. All of the students were free to choose how much and how many other foods to eat, but the researchers kept track of just what they ate and drank. They found that those drinking the diet drinks tended to choose larger portions and more desserts than those drinking sugared sodas and the overall calorie intake was actually higher for those assigned to the diet soda group. The proposed explanation was that when you consume something sweet your body chemistry responds on the assumption that there's an increase in blood sugar coming. If the sweetness is fake and the sugar doesn't arrive, then the result of this response is to increase hunger signals and encourage you to eat more of whatever is available. They also did the study with lab rats and got similar results - those given artificially sweetened water ate more and gained weight compared with rats given sugary water.

As to the effectiveness of cycling for weight loss, obviously there's lots of individual variation. But it seems to work on the population level. Countries with lots of daily cycling, such as Denmark and the Netherlands have much lower rates of obesity than populations with minimal amounts of cycling, such as the US and Australia.

doctor j

I'm down 65 pounds from my maximum of 225, and with the exception of the Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Year holidays, I maintain my weight. I'm up about 5 pounds right now, but that's the result of aforementioned holiday over-indulgence. During the summers, I may get down to 155. My wife says I look like I just escaped from a concentration camp. My mother and my daughter agree with my wife. My doc, also a road cyclist, said I could tell my wife that I'm not too skinny. I told her. It didn't change her mind.

I don't eat much junk food at all. I don't eat as much of any food as I did in the past, and I ride.

BarracksSi

My brother-in-law worked with a chip-making company in the Netherlands (silicon, not potato ) that also sent him on a job in the U.S.

Besides all the cycling, the Dutch also would take part of their workday and go for a walk. Right after lunch, they'd go outside and walk around the property a few times -- and it was not a small place, either. They would look at him funny if he didn't come along, too.

While he was handling the project in the U.S., the regular employees always talked about what workouts they did that morning, how many calories they burned, and how many they were consuming. Yet, as he put it, "They were still all fat!"

The cultural difference is so strong, it's crazy. It's more than just cycling vs. not cycling. Most companies here expect you to exercise on your own time while being at arm's reach of your email for the entire workday. Where I work, it's different -- if you're away from your desk to exercise, nobody's going to rag on you.

prathmann

Sounds just like the companies that I worked for in the US. We always had an extended lunch-time stroll. Sometimes it'd just be to get to and from some restaurant a mile or so away, but if we ate somewhere closer then we'd walk around the corporate center or through a local park/cemetery/whatever. But hardly anyone else commuted to work by bike, or went shopping by bike, etc.

But such utility bicycling is common in much of Europe. When we visited my 90 year-old aunt in Germany she hopped on her bike first thing every morning to get some fresh baked goods for breakfast. And that appeared to be pretty typical in town.

Cycling is different from most other forms of exercise in that it can also serve a useful transportation function in your daily life. And I think that makes it less likely that you'll quit because you get bored of it or you get too busy or a variety of other excuses. It can become part of your daily routine of how to get things done and that makes it more likely that you'll continue.

banerjek

Diet soda is crap. You shouldn't drink any kind of soda. Or eat junk food. If you bought it at a fast food restaurant or it's just a prepared dish you take out of the freezer and pop in the microwave, it's junk food.

Most people grossly overestimate what they burn when cycling. Eat healthy food, but not too much. Then ride lots. If you do that long enough, you'll slowly get into shape.

BarracksSi

Anyway, back to the original post --

"Is cycling a good way to lose weight?" Well, it's more of a good way to exercise, at least for cardio and leg strength. It has its drawbacks, though. It's a repetitive, relatively limited range of motion, and won't work many muscle groups. It's not really a load-bearing activity, either, so it won't build bone mass like running or other higher-impact forms of exercise. It's simply not going to work your upper body very well. And, although it's not jarring like running, a bad setup (seat position, etc) can give you injuries in your lower joints.

"Have you lost weight cycling? How much?" Can't say. I've gained and lost while cycling. I can even do without cycling altogether if my only reason for it was exercise, because I've found other things I can do.

But.... BUT... it's still a lot of fun, and I'm always going to have a bike or three in my life. Sometimes I feel like I'm seven years old again.

banerjek

It's as good a method as you make it. It's not the activity that makes you lose weight, it's your sustained effort.

In all honesty, I haven't lost an ounce. But I didn't want to because I was never overweight to begin with. I weigh the same as I did 25 years ago and I feel great. Plus you always have more fun if you're in good enough shape to do interesting things.

Debusama

Will driving work for emptying your gas-tank?

znomit

Haven't you lost about 150lb from out of your garage?

AdelaaR

I literally just laughed half of my cheeseburger back out of my mouth because of that!
Thanks for making the whole "frietkot" looking at me awkwardly there.

AdelaaR

Diet soda usually has Aspartam and/or Acesulfam K in it.
What is that stuff? I dunno.
Is it healthy? I dunno.
Does it burn and give me energy? I dunno.
Does it taste like chemical crap? Yes it does.

Look ... I drink at least a can or two of regular oldskool sugar-filled Coca Cola a day while working and I went from 81kg to 76kg in the last year.

My secret?
Definately not a typical healthy diet ... au contraire: I eat and drink very much with a lot of sugars and fats.
Most of them are the more healthy type of sugars and fats though, like fructose or olive oil.

So what is my secret?
High intensity cycling
Get a trainer and program it to give you half an hour of workout (yes ... only 30 minutes) ... program it to change every three minutes and set it like this:
60-70-80-70-80-90-80-90-100-60
The numbers represent the percentage of your maximum sustainable power for this whole exercise.
The idea is that you are completely wasted after those 30 minutes and that you are sweating like a pig.
Try to keep yor cadence around 100-110.
Do this 2 or 3 times a week for a month, on top of your normal cycling, and see how much weight you will have lost and how much power you will have gained.

jdon

This. The correct answer, often overlooked.

Look at virtually any program whether it be P90X, Richard Simmons, Ab Doers or whatever gimmick. The small print always requires a modified diet to achieve results. People buy the hype as the solution rather than seeing the obvious solution.

datlas 

OK. I will admit it.

I drink diet soda. It's probably harmless.

giantcfr1

Before I left Australia I was 78 kg. After three months in Japan I was 61 kg.
The difference was no car and most importantly, smaller portions of food. Still meat and vegetables, but smaller amounts of meat and more vegetables. Of course I was also introduced to rice and tofu etc.
After 7 years of living here, I hover around 61 to 62 kg.

My family and friends in Australia are convinced I have some illness.

Wesley36

Drink water. Nothing compares - not even fruit juice. Even freshly squeezed, 100% fruit juice, unless it is a smoothie, removes the fiber so it is not nearly as good for you as eating fruit.

In case it is not clear, let us hammer this point home again - no, diet soda has NO PLACE in a reasonably healthy diet. While soda in general is bad for you, it is still probably less bad than diet soda.

hyhuu

I definitely don't eat better since I started cycling. As an adult, I generally don't eat or drink sweet but with cycling I have started consumming sweets while riding for energy and have gradually become accustomed to it. That said, I'm lighter than I was before cycling.

LesterOfPuppets

Aspartame = the debbil!

AdelaaR

Whatever it is, it sure doesn't give you instant energy like sugar does and to me at least it tastes very foul.
I can instantly tell if there's aspartame in my soda because to me it tastes a bit "poisonous" ... a bitter and very "chemic" taste like the taste you get from biting on a pill of aspirine.

0100

Train like and animal and eat like and animal and you will be lean.

Don't go through the motions this isn't a joy ride, your on a damn road bike, you should be suffering.

Get in the gym, dead, squats, OHP, BP till you puke.

I eat more than a 400lb man but it's all quality. Water, eggs, red meat. white meat, nuts, fish and fruits and vegetable EVERYDAY! Yes everyday I have red meat, eggs, fish and chicken. Every meal should be a kill meal (if it doesn't have meat, fish or nuts in the meal you are doing something wrong. Think how a lion and bear eats and you will ok.

Getting on the row machine, bike or under the squat bar is not fun. If you are having fun you are doing it wrong or you are a sick sick individual.

Capecodder

Any exercise and the correct diet will cause weight loss. Drink lots of water as diet soda is bad for your body, and it bloats you.

jdon

Not just any nuts. Eat bear nuts right off the bear! Don't forget to crap in the woods! Use poison oak for ass wipe. Suffer you poosies!

BTW, Bears carry up to 50% body mass as fat.

AdelaaR

Yeah both lions and bears were pretty bad examples of "fit" animals as they both are mainly fat and lazy with the occasional fight or so.

BillyD

This.